1

AHEPAAHEPA

Yankee District NewsYankee District News Publication of District #7 (Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Western Massachusetts)

Issue Number LXlll Vol. 2Issue Number LXlll Vol. 2 Summer 2012Summer 2012

On June 5th the Na-than Hale Chapter 58

and Daughters of Pene-lope Chapter 198 held

the awards night. A spe-cial recognition went out

to Mo Moshovos and Loukia Kazakos for all

their hard work over the years serving as District Governers, details on

pages 6 & 7.

2

Message from the

Order of AHEPA District # 7 Governor

This is my first message to you after my recent election as your district governor. You have my pledge to do my

utmost to carry out the ideals of the Or-

der of Ahepa. We’ve been fortunate to have effective leadership under PDG Mo Moshovos, Supreme Governor Nick Ni-kas, and of course Supreme President John Grossomanides. Because of their leadership our district is #1 in terms of

member retention, # 2 in growth in-crease percentage and # 2 in the quality of our publication, the Yankee District News. Our Hellenic History Trophy Con-test is one of the Crown Jewels of Ahepa, and under Supreme Governor Nikas, it will be replicated elsewhere. These are

all positives and I will work to retain the successes.

Each Governor has areas he wishes to emphasize and those of you who have heard me elaborate on them know that I want to encourage each

chapter to move into the Community and begin giving back. Many of our chapters are doing tremendous things in the gen-eral community donating and volunteer-ing for local agencies. This is an effective way to spread the name and goals of Ahepa. As a former teacher, education is

a top priority. Our scholarship program is a great one, and I will work to expand and improve it.

The relationship between the Daughters of Penelope and the Ahepans is a vital one if we are to have success in our endeavors. I will work closely with

the Daughters of Penelope lodge to en-sure that our Ahepan family remains co-hesive and successful. In closing, I look forward to visit-ing each chapter this year. I will be con-tacting chapter Presidents to set up visi-

tation times. When your chapter has its elections , be sure to send your new offi-cer list to Nationals and me. Be sure

they include names addresses, phone numbers, and emails. Lets work together to have a great year!

Fraternally,

Jack

Jack Isaac

District Governor

Summer 2012

AHEPA District #7

District Lodge Officers

2012-2013

District Governor

Jack Isaac 15 Sylvan Road

New Britain, CT 06053 860 224-2183

jckisaac012@gmail.com

District Lt. Governor Alex Boutsioulis 671 Cortland Cir

Chesire, CT 06410 203-271-2929

Alex.boutsioulis@uinet.com

District Secretary

Andy Aros

284 Edgewood Cir Southington, CT 06489

860-621-4384 aaros@cox.net

District Treasurer John G. Grossomanides Sr. PDG

8 Mohegan Trail Westerly, RI 02891

401-596-7453

District Marshal Demetrius Tasoulas

24 Lloyd Rd. Waterford, CT 06385

860-444-2562 deteagle400@yahoo.com

District Warden Rick Pecka

1060 New Haven Ave, Unit 27 Milford, CT 06460

203-217-3091

rpsupreme@gmail.com

District Advisor Emmanuel Moshovos

65 Primrose Dr East Hartfort, CT 06118

860-568-4383

momosh@comcast.net

Hellenic Affairs Chair George Rados, PDG

7 Cheryl Ct Cromwell, CT 06416

860-635-5602

makedonia@sbcglobal.net

WHY PEOPLE SHOULD JOIN AHEPA/DOP

Together we can achieve more.

AHEPA/DOP would be stronger if it had 100,000 members.

AHEPA/DOP support and protect the interests of the Greek community.

AHEPA/DOP have a great Scholarship Program and educates thousands of Young Adults.

We all should give back to our communities, Civic Responsibility.

Hellenism is an important cause.

AHEPA District #7 Yankee News

Editor-in Chief : Krystyna Kazakos & John Grossomanides

Assistant Editor Alex Vlantes Contributing Editor Kip Kyprianou, Nick Nikas

Photographers: Mo Moshovos, George Gros-

somanides, Anna-Helene Panagakos, Lou Raptakis, Loukia Kazakos, and Krystyna Kaza-

kos. Please visit us on our website: www.ahepad7.org Email news to: yankeenews@ahepad7.org

Next Yankee News Deadline is: September 1, 2011

3

Summer 2012

Message from the

Daughters of Penelope District Governor:

Sisters, I’m sending this message with great

enthusiasm and a bit of apprehension. Enthusiastic be-cause I look for-ward to serving you as your newly

elected District Governor; I have a wonderful Lodge to work with for the upcoming year; visit-ing each and every chapter during the upcoming year and getting to know

more of you; reaching out to our Past

District Governors for support and guid-ance; and planning some exciting events with our fellow AHEPANS. Apprehensive because I have such big shoes to fill and I don’t mean in size! Those wonderful Sisters who came be-

fore me were so energetic and dy-namic; I hope that I can be half as in-spiring as they were. There are so many people that I have to thank. First I would like to express my sincere thanks to all those who sup-

ported me at the District Convention which was held in Newport, RI this

year. Second, I would like to thank the Newport AHEPA and Daughters chapters who did a phenomenal job! We had a wonderful Friday night out at

the Newport Playhouse, great delibera-tions on Saturday and of course a great meal on Saturday night. We were also very pleased to have our very own, Dr. John Grossomanides, Supreme President of AHEPA, with us; thanks Brother John for taking time out from

your busy schedule to be with us, we loved having you! Third, I would like to thank my dear Sisters from our won-derful Waterbury, Deucalion Chapter 199; I truly would not be here without your wholehearted encouragement and

support during all of my years as a

member of the chapter; you will always be my anchor and home base! Finally, I need to thank all of those PDGs who have been very supportive, nurturing and finally instrumental in my

becoming the District Governor of Dis-trict #7. Sister Loukia Kazakos who

has served for at least 3 terms of 2 years each and is now our District Advi-sor, thanks for your guidance over the

last few years; Sister Donna Rados,

our new District Treasurer, who has also served as District Governor multi-ple terms, thanks for encouraging me to move ahead; Sister Dr. Joanne Hologgitas, PGP, I’m most grateful to you for conducting my installation cere-mony, it meant a great deal to me, you

are an inspiration to all of us; Sister Ellen Anagnostos, who is always will-ing to jump in and lend a helping hand whenever the District Lodge calls, thanks for your comforting reassur-ances; Sister Helene Moran, another

dedicated Sister who keeps the Lodge at heart, thanks for your enthusiastic support; and Sister Artemis Nem-

phos, thanks for reminding me that we must continue to instill those traditional values into all that we do. I know that there have been many more PDGs with

whom I have interacted, but those above have had the greatest influence on me as a Daughter. I consider myself very lucky because I know that I can reach out to each of you over the next year and you will each be there for me.

I am here to serve you, so please feel free to call or email me with your thoughts, ideas or concerns. I can be reached at home after 6 PM at 203-756-7651; cell phone at 203-217-2213 or email at ppecka@newhaven.edu

Yours in ,

Penny

Penny Pecka

Daughters of Penelope

District Lodge

Officers 2012-2013

District Governor Penny Pecka

83 Midwood Ave Waterbury, CT 06708

203-756-7651 ppecka@NewHaven.edu

Lt. Governor

Anastasia Persico PO Box 1045

Middlebury, CT 06762

203-758-1472 apersichtgoc@aol.com

District Secretary

Myrsini Papoutsis

66 White Avenue

Middlebury, CT 06762 617-459-2498

papm16@yahoo.com

District Treasurer Donna Rados 7 Cheryl Court

Cromwell, CT 06416 860-635-5602

Cell: 860-463-6948 donnajean9008@sbcglobal.net

District Advisor

Lucia N. Kazakos, PDG

554 Nott Street Wethersfield, CT 06109

860-257-4257 Cell: 860-558-4517

luciakazakos@sbcglobal.net

District Marshall Penelope Hiotas

30A Thurston Avenue Newport, RI 02840

401-847-1807

Maids Advisor

Penny Albini 140 Upper Whittmore Rd.

Middlebury, CT 06762 203-217-6214

stonegable140@yahoo.com

If you would like to contribute

anything to the Yankee News-

letter please feel free to email

it to Krystyna Kazakos:

kazakos88@gmail.com

or you can reach her by tele-

phone 860-462-8099.

4

District # 7 Convention Newport, Rhode Island

Summer 2012

1. PDG - Emmanuel Moshovos presents a Special Achievement Award to John G. & Celia Grossomanides for their outstanding support in the publication & distribution of the YDN for over 5 yrs.

2. PDG—Emmanuel Moshovos presents Supreme President Dr.John Grossomanides with a Special Award for his support to District 7 in the past two years in all the Ahepa missions, Conventions & Conferences. 3. New Dist.7 Gov. Jack Isaac receives congratulations from the former PDG Em-manuel Moshovos.

4. PDG - Emmanuel Moshovos presents the Ahepan of the Year Award to Brother John Melonopoulos, President of Chapter 58, Hartford, CT. 5. PDG - Emmanuel Moshovos presents the Chapter of the Year Award to Chapter 62, Bridgeport, CT. Brother John Bochanis, President of Chptr.62 accepts the

Award for the Chapter. 6. Supreme President Dr. John Grossomanides with the new District 7 Governors, Penny Pecka, Daughters of Penelope and Jack Isaac, Ahepa.

7. PDG - Emmanuel Moshovos presents the Hellene of the Year Award to Brother George Anagnostos of Chapter 245, Newport, RI.

8. Daughters of Penelope members swearing oath. 9. PDG - Emmanuel Moshovos presents Brother Theologos Demetriades with a Special Recognition and Appreciation for his efforts for hosting & chairing of the District 7 Convention in Norwalk, CT.

10. Supreme President Dr. John Grossomanides with the now Past District Gover-nor’s Loukia Kazakos and Mo Moshovos.

5

Potpourri

Summer 2012

Yankee News Sponsors

Gold Sponsors ($200) James J. & Keula

Cocolis Stamford, CT

Daughters of Penelope

District #7

Silver Sponsors ($100) Constantine, Nia, and

Mary Agortsas

Fairfield, CT

Jack Isaac District #7 Governor

Waterbury Chapter #48

JOIN US If you are interested in supporting

the Yankee District News as a

Sponsor, there are three giving lev-

els: Gold $200, Silver $100, and

Bronze $50. This will provide you,

your business, or chapter recogni-

tion in 4 issues of the Yankee News!

AHEPA & Daughters of Penelope District #7 Scholarship Dinner

Sunday at 4:00pm

August 19, 2012 Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox

Church

937 Chase Parkway

Waterbury, CT

$25 Prepaid $30 at the Door

For Reservations:

Penny Pecka: 203-756-7651

Donna Rados: 860-635-5602

Τά νέα George Nicholas Faraclas, 92, of Bran-ford, passed away peacefully at CT Hos-pice on May 17, surrounded by his fam-ily. He leaves his loving wife of 65 years, Helen Basel Faraclas, with whom he shared a beautiful lifetime that in-cluded travel, volunteering, and dedica-

tion to their church and family. George was extremely proud of his Greek heri-tage and spent nearly 65 years serving the community of Saint Barbara’s Greek Orthodox Church. He initiated many community programs, served on the

Parish Council, and was a member, Past-President and District Treasurer of the AHEPA. He was honored as Ahepan of the Year and received special recogni-tion as an honorary member of the Philoptochos Society. His favorite ac-complishments were the results of his

efforts as co-founder and past-chair of the Church’s Odyssey Greek Festival.

On April 18, 2012 Ahepa Dist. Gov-

ernor Emmanuel Moshovos was

honored by his East Hartford Rotary

Club. Gov. Emmanuel Moshovos

was presented the Rotary Paul Har-

ris Fellowship Award by the Rotary

District 7890 Governor Susan

Klock. This Award is Rotary's Ser-

vice Above Self Award and awarded

to Gov. Mo for his 43 years is Ro-

tary and his many contributions to

his Club, Community, it's programs

and projects.

Emmanuel Moshovos congratulates

the new 2012-2013 President of

Chapter 58, Hartford, CT, George

Nakos and Secretary Jordan Smith.

Greek Night was held at Rock Cats

Stadium, New Britain, CT - July 3, 2012

Pictures to follow in next newsletter!

National Convention – July 22-27, 2012

Monte Carlo Hotel Las Vegas, NE

Hellenic History Tournament Competition Day

Saturday, October 27, 2012

6

Hartford Hosts Awards Night

Summer 2012

The Hartford AHEPA Fam-

ily, Nathan Hale Chapter 58 and

Thoas Chapter 198 hosted 80 mem-

bers of the local chapter, Supreme

Govenor Nick Nickas; Joanna Hal-

ligiotis PDG, Penny Pecka, Gov.

DOP District 7; Jack Issac, Gov.

Dist 7 and members from the Dis-

trict 7 chapters which included

Waterbury, Newport, Danielson,

Norwich, New Britain, Meriden,

Bridgeport and Stamford.

At the start of the evening,

Toastmaster Jerry Pangakis intro-

duced Rev. Dr. George Zugravu for

the invocation which was followed

by a buffet prepared by Brother

Tony Kazakos.

Following dinner, the awards

were presented by DOP President

Adele Antoniou for service: 25

Years: Marie Klementon, Helene

Moran For the AHEPA, President

John Melonopoulos for service: 25

years, Jerry Copsinis; 40 years

George Bonatsakis (above on

right), Jerry Pangakis (above on

left); 45 years-

Steve Costas.

AHEPA

Presidents Ser-

vice Awards

were presented

to: Melody

Belanger,

(pictured on

left) Property

Manager AHEPA

58 Apartments;

Michael Bonatsakis (above on left)

George Karageorge, Christopher

Merisotis (above on right), Geoffrey

Perry (below) and Jordan Smith.

DOP Appreciation Awards

were presented by President Adele

Antoniou to: Elaine Melonopoulos,

Secretary; Helene Moran, VP/

Treasurer; and Marie Klementon

(pictured above)

For the second year, a newly cre-

ated award was the AHEPA Busi-

ness Man of the Year presented to

Brother Steve Costas (pictured

above is his daughter Diane Brok-

ron) in recognition for being a lead-

ing purveyor in his industry and

in New England, for his philan-

thropy to the Greater Hartford

Community.

This year the chapter awarded the

AHEPA of the Year to Jordan Smith

for his outstanding service to the

chapter and its programs and for

being its secretary for 5 years. An-

other thank you for his design of

the Awards Night Brochure

(pictured above).

Nathan Hale Chapter 58 was

a proud sponsor of 3 teams to the

Hellenic History Tournament 2011

held in Orange, CT. Supreme Gov-

ernor Nick Nikas, founder/developer

of HHT and “Mo Moshovos, PDG,

presented the first place team

award plaques to: Alexandra Walsh

(pictured below), Elias

Kapetanopoulos (pictured below)

7

Summer 2012

Hartford Hosts Awards Night

and Jordan Augustinos (pictured

below).

Other participants to the HHT were

awarded certificates of appreciation

and AHEPA Bronze Scholastic Med-

als: Maria Zugravu (pictured

above), Christopher Augustinos

(pictured below) and Kristina Tou-

gas (pictured below).

Alexander Loukellis (pictured

above) was recognized for being

awarded the first from the Nathan

Hale Chapter for being accepted to

the AHEPA Academy in Washington

which is a college mentoring pro-

gram. Nationwide, a chapter can

sponsor a high school student who

would be selected to attend. The

winner is sponsored by the chapter

at a cost of $1,000.00.

A special presentation from

the District Lodge was made by Dis-

trict 7 Governor, Penny Pecka to

Loukia Kazakos for her two years

service. President Adele Antoniou

made a presentation to Loukia Ka-

zakos, PDG also on behalf of the

members of Thoas Chapter 198

(pictured on front cover).

District Governor Jack Issac

present a PDG plaque to Emmanuel

“Mo” Moshovos for his 2 years of

service to the District. Following,

Geoff Perry presented on behalf of

Nathan Hale Chapter 58 a bronze

statue of the “Thinker” to Mo

Moshovos as thank you from the

chapter to a person who is always

thinking to promote things (also

pictured on front cover).

A special thank you goes to all that

came and to those who helped

make the evening a success.

The operational committee

included: Adele Antoniou, Jim

Atheneos, Jerry Copsinis Marie Kle-

menton, Krystyna Kazakos, Paul

Matsikas, Elaine Melonopoulos,

John Melonopoulos, Helene Moran,

Jerry Pangakis, Geoff Perry, Jordan

Smith, Sara Smith, Tina Smith.

Pictured above is President John

Melonopoulos with George Kara-

george.

Pictured above is President Adele

Antoniou, New District Governor

Penny Pecka, and Bessie Kacoyan-

nakis who received her 60 year

Daughters of Penelope member pin.

8

News from Elpis Chapter # 117 New Britain, CT

Summer 2012

Over 75 people attended Elpis Chapter # 117 Order of AHEPA annual end of the year picnic that took place at

Churchill Park in Newington on Sunday June 10, 2012. Seen in these pictures are the members and their

families enjoying themselves and eating hot dogs, hamburgers, grilled chicken, and that most coveted food

barbecued spare ribs.

On may 16, 2012, District Governor Jack Isaac and Dis-

trict Secretary Andy Aros volunteered for CCARC at their

60th anniversary dinner and awards night. They tended

bar for the organization which services disabled citizens.

This was a continuation of a long standing relationship

going back many years. Brother Harry Sitilides who has

worked with the organization since AHEPA started it’s

involvement, now serves as a member of it’s Board of

Directors. The Elpis Chapter has also volunteered each

year for CCARC’s fashion show. The chapter is proud of

this relationship they have and hopes to continue and

expand it.

9

The Sisters of Chapter 41 had a wonderful year! Since our last report, we had our very successful

and much anticipated Mother's Day Flower, Bake and Gift Sale. Thanks to the many Sisters who

pitched in to make it a very unique and fun event for our entire community. In June, we had our

"End of Year Luncheon", where we honored Sisters for their many years of Service to our Chap-

ter. We were so happy to have our new District Governor, Penny Pecka, with us, as well as our new

District Secretary, Myrsini Papoutsis. We handed out beautiful certificates for 10, 15 and 20 years of

active membership, and pins to our Sisters who have been serving the Daughters for 25 through 60

years. We gave out two pins to 60 year members, PDG Tina Morici, and Theodora Valmas, who holds

the special honor of being a member of the Daughters for 64 years! We were so moved by the hap-

piness expressed by all our members, particularly Mrs Valmas, who felt especially honored to receive

recognition by the Chapter, and to have her pin given to her by our DG. This was a special event, and

in all we awarded 9 pins and 19 certificates! In June we also gave out Scholarships to students from

our Holy Trinity family and in in August we plan to help our Brothers in the AHEPA at their wonderful

"Taverna Night" event. Always a fun time! Happy Summer to the entire District and we plan to be

back in full swing in September!

Right Picture—L to R: Kathy Yian-

noulis, Maria Pertesis, Kathy Angelos,

Katina Zachariades, Marina Silvestros,

Joan Bakes

Chapter 41 Awards– L to R: Helen

Yeotsas, Penny Pecka, Theodora Val-

mas, Anna Loukrezis, Maria Tatalias

Daughters of Penelope Chapter 41 - Bridgeport, CT

Summer 2012

On Friday, April 27, the

Stamford AHEPA held its

annual fundraiser dinner

dance for the benefit of

our Scholarship Fund. In

past years, most of the

funds went to our two

Greek Schools, with the

remainder going to

sponsor our AHEPAcademy scholar-

ships and our Hellenic History

Tournament teams. This year, we

also raised money in support of the

national AHEPA humanitarian relief

effort for the people of Greece by

selling ads to a special commemo-

rative album.

Master of

Ceremonies

was Nikiforos

Mathews.

During the

dinner, we

honored 6

members of

our chapter:

Our five life

members (50+ years of

service): James J Co-

colis, Themis Hios, Peter

Nanos, Peter Paspalis,

and Vasilios Zaharis; and

our current chapter Vice

President, John Louizos,

who was selected by

Greek America Founda-

tion as one of the 2012 Forty Un-

der 40 Greek Americans. We also

honored our two retired priests: Fr.

Constantine Mathews, a life mem-

ber of the Middletown, OH chapter

209, past priest of Annunciation

Church and a long

time resident of

Stamford; and Fr.

George Poulos, a

1950’s member of

the Norwich, CT

chapter 110.

We chose May 20,

2012, the day His

Eminence

Archbishop De-

metrios

proclaimed

as AHEPA

Sunday

across the

nation, to

announce

the contri-

butions

made pos-

sible by the success of our fund-

raiser. We donated a total of

$12,000: $3,000 to each of the

two Greek schools of Stamford

(Annunciation and Archangels) and

$6,000 to the national AHEPA hu-

manitarian relief effort for the peo-

ple of Greece. This is the kind of

activity that has made our chapter

stand out as a defender of Hellenic

education and philanthropy. We

are grateful to all those who con-

tributed and we sincerely hope that

they will continue their support in

the years to come.

New from Chapter 99 - Stamford, CT

10

Summer 2012

Serious Fun and Games: AHEPA’s Third Annual Hellenic His-

tory Tournament November 27, 2011 By Greek News

New York.- By Vicki James Yiannias

A flawless combination: encourag-

ing Greek American youth to know

the history of their ancestors while

providing a great, stimulating day

for bonding with other kids. The

Annual Hellenic History Tourna-

ment, born of Nicholas Nikas’

strong desire to preserve a bit of

Hellenic consciousness in our youth

for as long in the future as possible,

even as they lose the ability to

speak Greek, is an idea with big po-

tential.

Statements from enthusiastic par-

ticipants (and members of the win-

ning team of the tournament) are a

case in point. High school senior,

Jordan Augustinos: “I enjoyed gain-

ing new knowledge about our long

Greek history and culture in prepa-

ration for the competition, as well

as competing alongside my team-

mates”. High school sophomore,

Kapetanopoulos: “It was great

learning about my heritage and I

enjoyed working with my friends

from church”. High school sopho-

more, Alexandra Walsh: “The tour-

nament was a great chance for me

and my friends to learn about our

history and culture in a team set-

ting.” Alexandra gives a

lot of credit for her suc-

cess in the tournament to

her study of Ancient

Greek, a class taught by

Mr. Mark Pearsall at Glas-

tonbury High School.

Nikas, who is Supreme

Governor of New England

and Chairman of the tour-

nament, is busy publiciz-

ing the tournament to

AHEPA chapters in Massa-

chusetts and beyond. He

hopes that as more AHEPA districts

decide to hold their own tourna-

ments around the country, there

will come a time to hold a national

competition to determine the over-

all winners.

Nikas, a member of Archangels

Greek Orthodox Church of Stam-

ford, CT., and resident of Old

Greenwich, CT., created the Hel-

lenic History Tournament three

years ago when he was District

Governor. The first tournament

was held in Norwich Free Academy

in 2009.

The 3rd Annual Hellenic History

Tournament was held on Saturday,

October 29, 2011, at the facilities of

St Barbara Greek Orthodox Church

in Orange, CT. The tournament

was sponsored by the chapters of

Yankee District #7 (Connecticut and

Rhode Island) of the Order of

AHEPA and hosted by the New Ha-

ven chapter and the St. Barbara

community under the leadership of

AHEPAN Tom Tambis. The Su-

preme President of the Order, Dr.

John Grossomanides, was in atten-

dance and took an active part in the

proceedings, as did District Gover-

nor Emmanuel Moshovos.“

Some of the tournament’s captivat-

ing team names–historical or imagi-

natively whimsical (and amusing)–

show that in all cases, the kids got

into the spirit and put thought into

them: They are: the Cataphracts

(from kataphraktos, “clothed in full

armor”), Lacedaemonian Hoplites,

Athena’s Owls, Olympians, History

Hunters, Demi-Gods, Greek Kouk-

las, Byzantine Beasts, and Herodo-

tus.

Noting that the competition is a sin-

gle elimination tournament, also

known as “sudden death”, Mr. Nikas

explained to the GN how the tour-

nament works.

Teams comprised of three high

school students each compete with

each other, on how well they know

the millennia-long history of the

Hellenes by answering multiple-

choice questions. After every

match, the losing team drops out,

while the winning team goes on to

compete in the next round with an-

other winning team. Members of

the team that wins the final match

receive a trophy (The Hellenic His-

tory Trophy) and $1,000 each. The

second place winners each get

$500.

Who qualifies: Any student who is

in grades 8-12 during the 2010-

2011 academic year, is sponsored

by selected AHEPA chapters in NJ,

NY, CT, RI, or MA, and who either

knows or wants to learn something

about the 3,500 year history of the

Hellenes (Greek speakers).

The tournament questions are-

All contestants with Supreme

President John Grossomanides

and PDG Mo Moshovos

11

Summer 2012

based on Hellenika: Heritage and

History, a beautiful book written by

Peter Limber and provided to the

participants by Dr. George Me-

likokis, Principal of St. Demetrios

Day School in Jamaica, Queens, to

study over the summer. Complete

with colorful maps and illustrations

of the Mediterranean region, Hel-

lenika covers the entire sweep of

Greek history, showing migrations

of various peoples over time.

Chairman Nikas talked about this

year’s tournament, beginning with

how the date was chosen.

“October 29 had been chosen back

in March as the best time to hold

this year’s tournament. It was go-

ing to be a glorious New England

fall day, with mild temperatures

and the sun shining on fiery orange

and red maple leaves.” The day

before, the picture looked bleaker,

with snow in the forecast for Satur-

day night, but because the event

was scheduled to end in the late

afternoon, Nikas and Governor

Moshovos decided to proceed with

the plan.

By 11:30 am on Saturday, the spa-

cious hall of St. Barbara was full of

participating students, parents and

volunteers who run the tourna-

ment, says Nikas, and after a brief

lunch, AHEPA Supreme President

John Grossomanides handed each

student a certificate of participation

and posed with all of them for a

group photograph along with Gov-

ernor Moshovos.

“I explained the rules of engage-

ment, and by 12:30 pm the first of

four rounds of competition had

started. Unfortunately, so had the

heavy snowstorm. Even though the

students seemed focused on the

competition, there was an under-

current of anxiety caused by the

desire to finish as quickly as possi-

ble and start on the long way home

through the slush,” Nikas recalls.

“The matches were run by com-

puters, but the computers were

controlled by human moderators

who were equally concerned about

the drive home.”

For the first time in the three-year

history of the tournament, proce-

dural missteps caused a couple of

disputes, which were settled

quickly by Chairman Nikas. AHEPA

volunteer Greg Stamos, an attor-

ney who witnessed the disputes,

quickly came up with a protocol for

handling appeals, for use in future

tournaments.

Nikas explains that sixteen teams

of three high school students each

(48 students) had originally signed

up to compete for the $4,500 in

prizes. The AHEPA chapters spon-

soring teams this year were

Waterbury, Hartford, Bridgeport,

Danbury, New Haven, Stamford,

Norwich and New Britain (all from

Connecticut), Newport, RI, and

guest chapters from Boston, MA,

and New Rochelle, NY. By tourna-

ment day, three teams had

dropped out and some teams com-

peted with fewer than the original

three students. Still, 13 matches in

four rounds were needed to deter-

mine the winners.

First prize ($1000 each) was won

by the Cataphracts from Hartford,

Jordan Augustinos, Elias

Kapetanopoulos and Alexandra

Walsh (all active members of the

St. George Hartford GOYA). Sec-

ond prize ($500 each) went to

Daniel Hawkins, Nicholas Manos

and Ryan Vecchitto, a team spon-

sored by the New Britain Daughters

of Penelope.

Despite the adverse weather, there

were numerous expressions of ap-

preciation from the attendees, says

Nikas, noting three that stand out

in his memory: “It is a memory I

will cherish for a very long time”;

“We had a great time! Please have

it again”; and “A superlative event!

One our District should be, and is,

very proud of”.

On left : District 7 Governor Emmanuel Moshovos presents $1,001 to Supreme President Dr. John Grosso-

manides for the Ahepa Greek Relief Fund. On Right : George J. Scarveles, Past Supreme Governor, Lucian

Pawlak, former Mayor of New Britain , George A. Rados, District seven Director of Hellenic Affairs, and Dimit-

rios Giannaros, former member House of Representative for the State of Connecticut. All Brother Ahepans.

12

Order of AHEPA Yankee District News 8 Mohegan Trail Westerly, RI 02891

NON PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

Permit No. 1282 Hartford, CT

06109